Sean Dyche imparted a trademark, no-nonsense piece of wisdom upon his Burnley squad, and dispelled a narrative surrounding their crunch clash with Everton.
All eyes will be on Turf Moor on Wednesday night when Everton travel to face Burnley in a tantalising basement battle. The Toffees currently hold a four-point advantage over the Clarets with Watford splitting the two sides in 18th.
Burnley have registered the fewest league wins (3) of all 20 Premier League sides this season, though have held their opponents to 12 draws.
Burnley’s biggest issue this season has been crystal clear. Their defence has once again been solid with their mark of 42 goals conceded the second best in the bottom half.
Instead, it has been their dismal attack that has held Dyche’s men back with just 22 goals struck in 28 matches.
Defeat to Everton on Wednesday would give them a mountain to climb, and speaking in the build-up, Dyche delivered a trademark piece of blunt advice to his goal-shy forwards.
Asked if he could demand any more from his Burnley forwards, Dyche said: “Yes – kick it in the net. It’s not rocket science.”
The former defender admitted, however, that the task of putting the ball in the net is hardest to coach.
He said: “The final moment – all managers, all coaches talk about it – the moment of execution, that’s the toughest bit to coach and manage.
“You’re getting the players in the right areas, doing the right things to allow the team the chance to score goals, and then the final moment is the challenge and that’s where we want our players to stand up and take responsibility, as they have done many times.
“The whole team can score a goal and the whole team can defend.
“We ask a lot of our players, so it’s not just about Wout (Weghorst), J-Rod (Jay Rodriguez) and Barnsey (Ashley Barnes) and these people, it’s about all of the team responding to score a goal.”
Wednesday night’s game could prove key for both clubs with the Toffees just three points clear of the drop zone after four defeats in their last five.
But Dyche is adamant that whatever happens during what is sure to be a tense 90 minutes, it will not define the entire campaign for either club.
He said: “It’s a season of work, it’s at the end of the season when we look back and reflect.
“The number of times I’ve heard, ‘This is a six-pointer’, ‘It’s the one that defines it’ and all the rest of it, and they invariably haven’t defined the season.
“You don’t want to be losing these games, quite obviously. They don’t define the whole season, which people are suggesting they do. They can do, but you can’t look at it like that.
“I certainly don’t. I’ve been in this division for long enough. We’ve got 10 games. But the immediate focus is on the next one – that’s always been the way we’ve worked.”
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